MUSIC | Classical
CLASSICAL PERCUSSION THE COLIN CURRIE GROUP: STEVE REICH – DRUMMING Glasgow Royal Concert Hall, Sun 10 Mar
Billed recently by the New York Times as ‘our greatest living composer’, Steve Reich is one of the most influential composers of the 20th and 21st centuries. An artist who breaks down genre-specific music boundaries, Reich is the subject of Minimal: Reich in Glasgow, with four events celebrating his work.
In performances and talks, there is an opportunity to view Reich from different perspectives, including his brand new work ‘Radio Rewrite’ with the London Sinfonietta and the great man himself performing ‘Clapping Music’, his 1970s piece written with the aim of using no instrument but the human body.
From around the same period comes ‘Drumming’, a rarely performed masterpiece which was inspired
by a visit to Africa and Reich’s experiences of music there. Formed specifically to perform it in 2006 for a late night BBC Prom, the Colin Currie Group gives the closing performance of the weekend with the Reich stamp of approval firmly in place. ‘It is an incredibly powerful work,’ says Edinburgh-born Currie who has just returned from Japan where he toured the piece with Reich. ‘It really gets to the heart of the matter of what it is to be a percussionist. It’s based purely on a single rhythm and is mesmerising, enchanting and magical.’ Scored for nine percussionists, two female singers and piccolo, the four parts of ‘Drumming’ last around an hour. The first uses bongo drums, the second marimbas and voices, the third introduces the sounds of the glockenspiel and piccolo, and the fourth, unusually for Reich’s use of sonorities, involves the whole ensemble. The sounds are therefore of skin, wood and metal, culminating in all the different timbres coming together. As Currie puts it: ‘Reich puts the rhythm through an endlessly and subtly changing kaleidoscope, to create multi-layered contrapuntal lines.’ (Carol Main)
94 THE LIST 21 Feb–21 Mar 2013
Edinburgh University Singers with orchestra Old St Paul’s Church, 39 Jeffrey Street, 556 3332. 7.30pm. £8 (£5). John Kitchen conducts Haydn’s Te Deum in C and Mozart’s Requiem.
Saturday 9
Glasgow Young Artists Concert Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, 100 Renfrew Street, 332 5057. 12.30pm. £7 (£5). Student recital. Part of RCS Piano Festival. Minimal: Reich in Glasgow Glasgow Royal Concert Hall, 2 Sauchiehall Street, 353 8000. 7pm. £15 (£13; under 26s £5). Steve Reich presides in person over a concert of his own works, plus pieces by Graham Fitkin and Matthew Fairclough. FREE BBC SSO: Hear and Now – Stuart MacRae’s Earth The Old Fruitmarket, Candleriggs, 353 8000. 7.30pm. Works by Arne Gieshoff, Alasdair Nicolson, Andrew Simpson and Stuart MacRae. Ages 12+. FREE The Empty Set Glasgow University Concert Hall, University Avenue, 330 4092. 7.30pm. Experimental music. Evening Concert Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, 100 Renfrew Street, 332 5057. 7.30pm. £7 (£5). Keyboard showcase. Edinburgh Edinburgh Competition Festival 2013: Final Concert The Queen’s Hall, 87–89 Clerk Street, 668 2019. 7pm. £6 (£4; children free). Student showcase. FREE Angus Tully and guests Blackhall St Columba’s Church, Queensferry Road, 332 4431. 7.30pm. Organ recital. Scottish Chamber Choir Canongate Kirk, 153 Canongate, 556 3515. 7.30pm. £10 (students £5; under 18s free). Choral works by Britten and Oldham.
Sunday 10
Glasgow FREE Minimal: Reich in Glasgow – NYOS Futures and London Sinfonietta Glasgow Royal Concert Hall, 2 Sauchiehall Street, 353 8000. 3.15pm. Student musicians play Reich’s Variations for Vibes, Piano and Strings with the London Sinfonietta. Jonathan Morton leads. Minimal: Reich in Glasgow – The Colin Currie Group Glasgow Royal Concert Hall, 2 Sauchiehall Street, 353 8000. 4pm. £12. See preview, left. Rite of Spring @ 100 Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, 100 Renfrew Street, 332 5057. 7.30pm. £10.50 (£7.50). Ballet students and student and staff musicians play the four-handed piano version of Stravinsky’s Rite of Spring. Edinburgh FREE St Giles’ at Six: The Edinburgh Academy St Giles’ Cathedral, Royal Mile, 226 0673. 6pm. Pieces by Dvorák, Shostakovich and Howard Goodall, among others.
Monday 11
Glasgow Strings Department Showcase Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, 100 Renfrew Street, 332 5057. 1pm. £7 (£5). Student recital.
Tuesday 12 Glasgow FREE Glasgow University Chapel Choir: Choral Contemplations XII Glasgow University Memorial Chapel, University Avenue, 330 4092. 6–7pm. Choral works by Britten.